For many years I've been watching Mr Pete's videos and always appreciated his little Cameron drill press. I do mostly model work and always thought the Cameron would be a handy tool. You can still buy one new, but they are quite pricey so I was on the hunt for something used.
After a few years of getting outbid on Ebay, I was finally able to score a Cameron 164 Micro drill press for a decent price.
It was a poorly worded auction with lousy pictures so the final price was the lowest I've seen in years. This was how it looked when I received it: filthy but in good shape with only a few peck marks on the table. What looks like rust is actually gummed-up 3in1 oil which covered he whole thing. I had to use about half a can of electric motor cleaner just to get it running correctly.
And after an hour or so of scrubbing with Simple Green and WD-40, it looked like a new machine.
The belt is an odd size, so I ordered a new one and the dial indicator mount from the manufacturer. It's nice the company is still in business!
And here it us ready to use. For the indicator mount, the cast piece I bought but I made the threaded hex rod and depth stop nuts. Can't say I've needed to use an indicator yet, but the depth stop has come in handy.
Here's the Cameron sitting beside a Dumore Series 16 Sensitive Drill press, which Mr Pete likes to call the Malt Machine.
https://www.dumoretools.com/sensitive-drill-press
Even though the Cameron is a bit smaller, I've found it to be a bit more versatile than the Dumore, which has such a small chuck to table distance. For a few minutes I thought about selling the Dumore, but quickly came to my senses when I realized I would never find another at the price I paid. With a fixture plate for specific jobs, the Dumore can do some very precise drilling so it still comes in handy. With tiny carbide drill bits I just let it scream at it's default speed (15k RPM).